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Title: Fermentation of sweet sorghum derived sugars to butyric acid at high titer and productivity by a moderate thermophile Clostridium thermobutyricum at 50 °C

Journal Article · · Bioresource Technology

In this study, a moderate thermophile Clostridium thermobutyricum is shown to ferment the sugars in sweet sorghum juice treated with invertase and supplemented with tryptone (10 g L–1) and yeast extract (10 g L–1) at 50 °C to 44 g L–1 butyrate at a calculated highest volumetric productivity of 1.45 g L–1 h–1 (molar butyrate yield of 0.85 based on sugars fermented). This volumetric productivity is among the highest reported for batch fermentations. Sugars from acid and enzyme-treated sweet sorghum bagasse were also fermented to butyrate by this organism with a molar yield of 0.81 (based on the amount of cellulose and hemicellulose). By combining the results from juice and bagasse, the calculated yield of butyric acid is approximately 90 kg per tonne of fresh sweet sorghum stalk. Here, this study demonstrates that C. thermobutyricum can be an effective microbial biocatalyst for production of bio-based butyrate from renewable feedstocks at 50 °C.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of International Affairs (IA)
Grant/Contract Number:
PI0000031
OSTI ID:
1766805
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1250354; OSTI ID: 1771308
Journal Information:
Bioresource Technology, Vol. 198, Issue 198; ISSN 0960-8524
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 33 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (6)

Efficient l ‐lactic acid production from purified sweet sorghum juice coupled with soybean hydrolysate as nitrogen source by Lactobacillus thermophilus A69 strain journal March 2019
Production of butyric acid from acid hydrolysate of corn husk in fermentation by Clostridium tyrobutyricum: kinetics and process economic analysis journal June 2018
Microbial Production of Short Chain Fatty Acids from Lignocellulosic Biomass: Current Processes and Market journal January 2016
Metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli for the production of butyric acid at high titer and productivity journal March 2019
H-B-E (hexanol-butanol-ethanol) fermentation for the production of higher alcohols from syngas/waste gas
  • Fernández-Naveira, Ánxela; Veiga, María C.; Kennes, Christian
  • Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology, Vol. 92, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1002/jctb.5194
journal February 2017
Techno-Economic Evaluation of Cellulosic Ethanol Production Based on Pilot Biorefinery Data: a Case Study of Sweet Sorghum Bagasse Processed via L+SScF journal April 2018